Seismic Strengthening of Low Strength Concrete Columns using High Ductile Metal Strap Confinement: A Case Study of Kindergarten School in Northern Thailand

The 2014 Chaing Rai earthquake (Thailand) caused extensive damage in many reinforced concrete (RC) buildings built before the introduction of modern seismic design guidelines. Much of the damage on these buildings was attributed to the inadequate capacity and/or ductility of columns. As a result, suitable and cost-effective strengthening techniques for such substandard elements are necessary. This article presents a case study on the seismic strengthening of a one-story RC kindergarten school located in Ampor Pan, Chaing Rai province. The building was partially damaged during the afore-mentioned earthquake, which led to cracking in walls, columns, and beam-column joints. As part of the initial assessment, innovative repair solutions were sought to minimize construction time, labor, and material cost. Accordingly, an innovative strengthening technique that uses Post-tension Metal Strapping (PTMS) was proposed to strengthen the damaged RC elements. This article presents details of the structural assessment performed on the building, as well as details of the PTMS strengthening strategy, which was applied for the first time in a real full-scale structure. This article contributes towards the validation and application of the PTMS strengthening on real structures, which had not been possible until now.